Waste not want not!

My mother always taught me that it was a sin to waste food. This is probably responsible my my waistline as well as my frugal tendencies. When I was single, I went for easy. I threw out tons of produce that I had bought with good intentions, and replaced it with all you can eat soup, salad, and breadsticks at Olive Garden. Nothing like having 5 kids to cure you of that little habit.

I really try not to waste food. My freezer and my soup pot are my two best defenses, oh and my griddle. Bread and cheese are easy. French toast is the only cure for bread that is getting ready to turn, and George could eat half a loaf by himself. Soup and grilled cheese sandwiches are great for cleaning out the produce and the bread and cheese. I use the freezer for fruits and veggies for the simple fact that if the Jolly Green Giant can do it, why can't I?


This has become a real issue in Bahrain. It is hot and almost everything is imported. You have a limited amount of time with bread and produce. The stinker is that the most affordable way to buy produce is right off the vendors in bulk. So, I ended up with lots of frozen bags of peaches and pears and bananas the will do nicely for smoothies or a compote. Tomatoes are ruined once they are refigerated, cooking 101. That is why the salad bar tomatoes taste like Styrofoam. So, if they haven't been refrigerated when I buy them, I don't refrigerate them either. However, they go bad fast in Bahrain. Then the go to the freezer whole and dry in a ziploc bag.They freeze up like clinking billiards balls. The only good use for them after that is added to sauce or soup, but it is a good way to extend a jar of Spaghetti sauce or to throw into your sausage and peppers. Even things like onions and potatoes that seem to last forever at home, spoil in Bahrain. So,French onion soup and potato leek soup are family favorites and they freeze and reheat well. In North Carolina I would freeze my home grown poblanos and tomatoes for Chili night in the winter. My father used to say "these will be good when the snow flies!" when he would help my mom can and freeze from their garden. He was right and I never forgot that.

Meat is another food item with a short shelf life in the frig. Once it is cooked, you can stick it in the freezer for soup or cassoulet later. Saving a duck carcass or a ham bone will add depth to these as well. When I make cassoulet or chili I can pull out leftover meat or a spare sausage and add it to the pot.

The truth is that there are a lot of hungry people in the world that would feast off our garbage. We all throw away a little wilted lettuce and shriveled carrots on occasion, but there is no good reason to waste your hard earned dollars or the gift of excess. Put your bounty to work for you and be grateful that no one in your house goes hungry.